Hippity Hoppity Happy Easter Day! Homemade Robin’s Eggs!! YUM!

I might be the only person that is super stoked for the Valentine’s Day candy to leave the store shelves. The reason for this excitement is that I LOVE the thing that will be taking its place on the shelves: ROBIN’S EGGS!

Look, I know you think Robin’s Eggs are just glorified Whoppers, but that my friend is where you are wrong. Robin’s Eggs have an outer candy shell and that makes them totally different and special.

I took on the task of making the very best version of this candy that I could. I am a BIG fan of the malted center and really started out with that being my main focus. This recipe is very easy and if you are a malt fan, like me, you will be very VERY pleased. Maybe too pleased. Let’s get going…

2 egg whites

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons dutch cocoa powder

2 tablespoons chocolate malt powder

2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar

Pre-heat oven to 225

Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Beat with the whisk attachment until frothy.

Slowly add the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and beat until you reach firm peaks.

Sift powdered sugar, cocoa powder, malt powder, and turbinado sugar into the firm egg whites.

Gently fold the mixture together. The batter is going to deflate some, but the easier you are with it, the larger the cookie. I will say that I made this recipe MANY times and was more aggressive with my folding than the average bear. This was not a bad thing, the cookies still ended up delicious – just flatter and  crunchier (I love them and will make them this way again – perfect for ice cream!)

Place batter in a pastry bag if you have one, but if not just use a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off.

Pipe batter onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for an hour.

Turn off the oven, prop the door open, to allow the cookies to continue to cool and crisp up for a couple of hours.

In a double boiler, melt chocolate.

Once the chocolate is melted, dip or spread chocolate on your cookie. The chocolate is a fantastic addition, but does not overtake the amazing malt taste of the cookie.

Really really delicious!

Start an Easter tradition today by making these with your family!

Homemade Robin’s Eggs

2 egg whites

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1  tablespoons dutch cocoa powder

3 tablespoons chocolate malt powder

2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar + more for sprinkles (this add amazing crunch and texture)

Pre-heat oven to 225

Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Beat with the whisk attachment until frothy. Slowly add the 1/4 cup granulated sugar and beat until you reach firm peaks.

Sift powdered sugar, cocoa powder, malt powder, and turbinado sugar into the firm egg whites.

Gently fold the mixture together. The batter is going to deflate some, but the easier you are with it, the larger the cookie. I will say that I made this recipe MANY times and was more aggressive with my folding than the average bear. This was not a bad thing, the cookies still ended up delicious – just flatter and  crunchier (I love them and will make them this way again – perfect for ice cream!)

Place batter in a pastry bag if you have one, but if not just use a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off.

Pipe batter onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for an hour. Turn off the oven, prop the door open, to allow the cookies to continue to cool and crisp up for a couple of hours.

In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted, dip or spread chocolate on your cookie. The chocolate is a fantastic addition, but does not overtake the amazing malt taste of the cookie.

Really really delicious! Start an Easter tradition today by making these with your family!

Inside the Queens Studio with Melissa Guerra

I have to admit that I kinda wanna be Melissa Guerra. Melissa is such an inspiration to me for so many reason. First of all, she is a food wiz!  She lives and breathes the stuff and her knowledge in the realm of Latin foods is hard to match. Melissa has been a wonderful sounding board for me through the years and I really appreciate that.  She’s a dear friend of my family and an all around awesome person!

If you are in the San Antonio area you MUST go to her store in the Pearl Brewery. It is fantastic and the area is so super fun! It is not to be missed.

Melissa Guerra is an 8^th generation Texan, born and raised on a working cattle ranch in South Texas. She is a self taught culinary expert and food historian, specializing in the food ways of the American continent, especially Texas regional, Mexican, and Latin American cuisine. Her cooking show, “The Texas Provincial Kitchen,” was produced in San Antonio at KLRN, and aired on PBS affiliates across the U.S.

Guerra has worked as a bilingual spokesperson for Kraft, Coca-Cola, Goya and Mazola. In 2005, Melissa Guerra served as a consultant, and was featured as a culinary expert on the PBS reality show “Texas Ranch House.” Guerra also teaches cooking courses and is often a featured public speaker.

Her second cookbook Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert: Norteño Cuisine of South Texas  was published in 2006 by John Wiley and Sons. Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert was a finalist for a James Beard Award in the category of Foods of the Americas, and for an International Association of Culinary Professionals award in the same category.

Since 2000, Melissa Guerra has owned and operated a website and storefront dedicated to providing top quality Latin American kitchenware and ingredients. Guerra’s newest store opened in  November, 2008 at the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio, the location of the new Culinary Institute of America’s Center for Foods of the Americas (focusing on Latin American cuisine)

Where you work:

Owns Melissa Guerra, a Latin American culinary store in San Antonio, Texas. Voted the #2 destination to visit by Lonely Plant Travel Guide in May 2011

How you got started:

Taught cooking lessons in my home

What is your “recipe” for success?

Still working on that…

If you weren’t an amazing Entrepreneur, Chef, Cookbook Author you would be…

A mom, and if that hadn’t worked out either a professional singer or a nun.

If your personality could be described as any casserole what would it be?

Not sure, but cheese would definitely be involved.

Your spouse called and his Aunt Edna is in town and coming over for dinner. Quick – what is your go to meal?

If turning off the porch lights and hiding didn’t work, our second option is that we always have frijoles and tortillas in the fridge, maybe Arroz con Pollo as we always seem to have a frozen chicken on hand as well. I would probably make a pie or cake too, which I would consume by myself after Aunt Edna left.

Name one kitchen disaster you’ve had.

I burned my toast about a month ago and set off the fire alarm. Four policemen showed up. They asked what I did for a living, and got a big kick when I told them I was a food professional. Aside from that, a kitchen  set caught fire once when taping a show. My home kitchen blew up during our remodeling, but technically, that had nothing to do with me cooking. Lost 500 sq ft of my house. My restaurant caught on fire too. Take your pick.

What dish from your childhood brings you the most comfort and why?

I am a potato chip FREAK! I love salty, crunchy stuff. Apparently, these snacks love me back as they permanently take up residence on my ever widening rear end.

If someone wrote a book about you, what would the title be

Head in the Fridge – A Psychoanalytical Case Study of A Low Functioning OCD Food Savant.  Not sure if this would be a book or a doctoral dissertation

The Deviled Egg Tray and Easter – It’s a Southern Thing

In the deep South, some things are just a given.  For instance, every type of soda is always (and I mean ALWAYS) a Coke®, all tea is sweet tea, and you always will find a deviled egg tray in the cupboard. Over the years, my deviled egg tray has brought me much joy.  At times when I could not get home to Georgia for the holidays, breaking out my tray and making a batch of eggs was a simple way to bring the spirit of home to me.

Below is my favorite twist on the southern deviled egg recipe. I highly suggest that you make them a part of your appetizer spread this Easter.

Enjoy, and now go call your momma!

Southern (as in the South of France)  Deviled Eggs

• 12 hard-cooked large eggs, shelled
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon chopped pitted kalamata olives
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes (dry, not packed in oil)
• 2 teaspoons chopped capers
• 1 teaspoon dried herbs de Provence
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4  teaspoon salt
• 1/4  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Additional chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Ok, so the hardest part about this recipe is boiling and peeling the darn eggs. Seriously, it has taken me years to master this task! If you have already earned your hard-boiled egg scouts’ badge, feel free to skip over the following “how-to section.”

To achieve perfect eggs, rule number 1 is NOT to use super fresh eggs. If you bought the eggs that day – you are in serious trouble. That fresh egg is guaranteed to have more craters than if it were hit by an asteroid! I recommend using eggs that are about a week old, or, if in a bind, go purchase your eggs from the local convenient store down the street. I find they do not stock, as umm, frequently as the grocery store.

Place eggs in a large enough saucepan so that they have plenty of room in between them, then cover with enough cold water by at least an inch. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a medium boil and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and place eggs in a bowl of iced water. (Think blanching!)  The ice is an important step, as it helps not only with the peeling, but it cools the eggs down fast enough to keep the yolk yellow – no green eggs here!  Chill for a few minutes until the egg is completely cooled.

Now let’s get to the moment of truth – peeling!  To peel, crack the egg on all sides and roll it between your hands and a hard surface to loosen the shell. I find that if you start at the larger end, that you will discover a little air pocket and it is easier to get a hold of the membrane. I also tend to shell the eggs under water. Not sure why that helps, but it sure seems to! Ok – that’s all I got.  I hope you all have 12 perfectly gorgeous eggs. Now on to the easy part of the recipe!

Combine boiling water and sun dried tomatoes in a bowl. Cover; let stand 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.

Cut eggs in half lengthwise; remove yolks. Place yolks in a medium bowl.  Add tomatoes, mayonnaise, and next 7 ingredients (through pepper); stir well. Place egg white halves onto your adorable deviled egg tray and spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons egg mixture into each egg white half. (Use a pastry bag to keep things neat!) Sprinkle with additional chopped parsley for a lovely presentation.

Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1/2 egg)

Love Thy Pet. Make Them Treats!

First let me start off by saying I have a new appreciation for pet photographers. I would easily put them in the same category as grossly underpaid service industry workers or teachers. I took at least 8 billion pictures (you think I am exaggerating, but trust me – I am not!) of my pooch, Bessie, and her friend, Noonan, during a recent play date – desperately trying to capture that perfect shot. Needless to say, I never got it. The whole “standing still” thing is hard for dogs!

It’s a total shame, because there was a lot of cuteness going on that day. Oh well! Now that we have established that I am a hopeless photographer, let’s move on to the inspiration for this post – homemade dog treats!  On multiple occasions I find myself asking W.W.M.D (What Would Martha Do? Stewart, that is!) Aside from that little prison mishap, Martha is my idol. And who am I kidding, that stint in prison gave her some street cred – made her more “real”. Don’t you think? Anyhow, I am sure if you asked Martha what she was doing for  Love Your Pet Day that she would tell you she was making some new dog collars out of recycled twine and stamps, and whipping up gourmet dog treats made with leg of lamb and fresh vegetables from her garden. I figured the least I could do for Bessie is let her have a friend over and bake them something homemade, albeit a little less glamorous!

I have to admit that I don’t know much about making my own dog-friendly foods, so I went to the Google machine and did some research. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t feed my babies anything that would harm them! After many hours, I settled on Apple Cheddar Pupcakes from the Brown-Eyed Baker and Soft Pretzel Dog Treats from The Driven Cook because the recipes were straight forward and used many ingredients I already had on hand. Plus I figured if they sounded tasty enough for me to eat – then the dogs would love them too.

Ingredients for Apple Cheddar Pupcakes.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the applesauce, water, oil, honey and eggs.  Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just barely blended.

Fold in the apples and cheese.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. This recipe made 12 pupcakes, and there still was a little extra batter. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the tins for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Now it’s pretzel time!

Ingredients!

In a large bowl, combine flour, Parmesan cheese and baking powder.

Add the oil and chicken stock to the dry ingredients and stir until the dough starts to form.

Move dough to a floured surface and lightly knead. Cover and let rest for about 15 minutes until easier to form. Take pieces of dough about the size of a ping pong ball, roll into thin ropes and shape the ropes into pretzels.  If it gets hard to form or dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time.

If you want your pretzels to have a nice sheen, brush on a little egg wash and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. The egg wash also makes the sesame seeds stick to the pretzel.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, until firm.

Ta-dah! Time for puppy treats and fetch!

Apple Cheddar Pupcakes – from the Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup traditional rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup applesauce
½ cup water
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs
1 apple, peeled, cored and minced
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the applesauce, water, oil, honey and eggs, then stir in the apple and cheese. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just barely blended.

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling almost full (you may have a couple spoonfuls of batter leftover). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the tins for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Makes 12 pupcakes.

Soft Pretzel Dog Treats – from The Driven Cook

Ingredients:

-2 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
-1/4 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
-1 teaspoon Baking Powder
-1 Cup Chicken Stock (or water)
-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
-Pinch of Garlic Powder
-Sesame Seeds, for sprinkling (optional)
-1 Egg, beaten, for egg wash (optional)

In a large bowl, combine flour, Parmesan cheese and baking powder.  Add the chicken stock and oil and stir until the dough starts to form and get shaggy.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Let rest for about 15 minutes until easier to form.

Take pieces of dough about the size of a ping pong ball, roll into thin ropes and shape the ropes into pretzels.  If it gets hard to form or dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time.   If you want your pretzels to have a glossy appearance, brush on a little egg wash and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until firm.  Store in a tightly sealed container. Makes about two dozen pretzels.

Pup Tested Pup approved!

A dear friend of the Queens sent us this pic of her dog, Prancy Pants, performing a trick just moments before eating a soft pretzel dog treat that Bessie gave to her! The verdict came in shortly after: Prancy loved it!

And then there was my poor Bessie, who is still begging for another treat. Obviously homemade treats are the bomb! Now that I have learned more about what ingredients are dog-friendly, I will continue to make them and experiment with my own recipes.  Stay tuned!

Please sir, may I have some more?

St. Patrick’s Day Irish Potato and Leek Soup with Chive Oil and Bacon!!

I really wanted to soup. I live in Washington DC and it is cold here and the only thing that was going to warm my cold bones was soup. I also needed to decide what dish I wanted to prep for a St. Patrick’s Day blog post. I must admit that I was determined that this dish was going to be soup. Thank GOD the Irish love themselves some potato soup! The internet said so! SOUP TIME!!

1/2 cup salt

1 medium onion

3 leeks, sliced

3 large baking potatoes

3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tabasco

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

bacon, cooked and crumbled

Chive Oil (click for recipe)

 

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and leeks to butter and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.

Stir in potato, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Stir in broth, salt, tabasco, pepper, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until potato is tender. Remove from heat, and cool slightly.

Process soup in batches in a blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides; return to saucepan, and cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated.

Garnish with parmesan cheese, bacon bits, and  chive oil.

I’m telling you, the chive oil makes a huge difference. It is a very nice addition to this soup! 

 

1/2 cup salt

1 medium onion

3 leeks, sliced

3 large baking potatoes

3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tabasco

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and leks to butter and cook , covered, for 20 minutes. Stir in potato, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in broth, salt, tabasco, pepper, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until potato is tender. Remove from het, and cool slightly.

Process soup in batches in a blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides; return to saucepan, and cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Serve with desired toppings.

Hey NYC! Chefday will help make it a great day!

New Yorkers are some lucky dogs!

Crystal and I were introduced to a couple of great food entrepreneurs, Laurent Moïsi and Agathe Roncey, the last time we were in New York City. They, along with a great team, have started a company called Chefday. 

The concept of the business is a food delivery service where you receive all the ingredients you need to prepare a meal. The ingredients have all been neatly pre-measured, cleaned, and are pretty much ready to go into your dish. Other than some light chopping, dinner really is almost on the table. Chefday is a great service for people who want to participate in the preparation of the food they eat, but need it to be made simple, fresh, and fool-proof. I had a great time making and eating my dish, which was the Stir Fried Green Bean Vermicelli. It was easy to prepare and fresh, spicy, and super flavorful.

I also think it is super cool that they have a how-to video for every dish they offer: http://www.chefday.com/recipe/stir-fried-green-bean-vermicelli. However; I only used the printed instructions and found them to be clear and easy to follow.

Keep up the great work and best of luck to everyone at Chefday. If you live in NYC, give them a try!

Delivery bag

Ingredients: So cute!

How to: Clear to understand and the online video provided was very easy to understand!

Time to eat! Very very flavorful!